1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a confocal laser microscope capable of obtaining a confocal (CF) image and a non-confocal (NCF) image of a specimen to be observed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an optical microscope capable of observing plural types of images obtained from the same specimen has been developed. For example, in a confocal laser microscope, two types of images, that is, a confocal image and a non-confocal image, can be obtained as a laser scanning microscopic (LSM) image. A high-contrast confocal image can be obtained by performing XY scanning using a fine spot beam and by forming an image only from the light from the focusing position on the specimen through a pinhole. An image obtained without a pinhole is a non-confocal image having an image-forming characteristic similar to that of a normal optical microscope.
With the above-mentioned confocal laser microscope, the obtained confocal image and non-confocal image can be displayed as overlaid (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-098241) or as switched (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-133869).
Also a scanning optical microscope for simultaneously displaying a fluorescent image and a transmission image on a display has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent No. 3326881).